


Girl Talk

by ponyjockey



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 23:23:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12352668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ponyjockey/pseuds/ponyjockey
Summary: The Archeron sisters find a moment to themselves in the townhouse.





	Girl Talk

Nesta Archeron lounged in her bed basking in the scent of Cassian that still cling to her sheets. It had been a few weeks since that afternoon shower and Cassian had taken to slipping into Nesta’s room when the stars were at their brightest and sneaking away before dawn. They still hadn’t taken that last step of intimacy, but they had done plenty of other things in those stolen midnight hours. The shower had definitely seen its fair share of use. 

Nesta wasn’t sure why she was bothering to hide him away, except that she riled at the thought of the unending “I told you so” they would have to endure when the came out as a couple to Cassian’s friends. Nesta still wasn’t sure she wanted to claim these people as her friends, well except for Amren maybe. Although they had been incredibly discreet, in her opinion, there was one person who definitely had caught on to her and Cassian’s late night rendezvous, Elain.

There was no way that Elain hadn’t heard them from across the hall with her fae ears or sensed the change in her and Cassian’s relationship with her seer’s eye. Elain knew Nesta better than anyone though and Nesta knew her sister wouldn’t push her to talk until she was ready. Since their father’s death the Archeron sisters did little talking when they were together, opting instead for reading or eating in companionable silence. They’d never been a touchy feely talk about your feelings family. Even with Elain, Nesta rarely shared the intimate details of her life, although she supposed until now there hadn’t been much to tell.

Nesta started at a knock on her door, but quickly relaxed when she heard Elain’s voice. “Nesta, Can I come in?” Nesta quickly sprayed her favorite perfume over the sheets to mask Cassian’s scent. She had rapidly become one of the most respected clients of the top parfumerie in Velaris. As the Night Court’s emissary to the human lands, Nesta had been given a generous salary, though she would never let Rhys know how generous she thought it was, and had been putting it to good use. 

Velaris had more shops than Nesta could ever have imagined. Last night she and Cassian had even ventured out to a small lingerie store full of frilly delights, where she’d paid heavily for the shopkeeper’s discretion as she tried on lacy thing after lacy thing to his delight. Shaking her head out of the memory she called, “Come in.” Nesta smiled broadly as the person she loved more than anything else in the world came in and sat down next to her.

“You look rather flushed this morning”, Elain said with laughter in her eyes. Nesta huffed and threw her pillow at her sister. “I wanted to tell you something” Elain continued. Last night Azriel and I were walking by the Sidre and well, we kissed”. 

“What?” Nesta screeched, all thoughts of her night with Cassian immediately left her mind. “What do you mean you kissed? Who kissed who? If he came on to you unwarranted I will rip out his Illyrian heart with my bare hands.” Nesta’s eyes shone with the truth of the threat.

“No Nesta, I kissed him.” Elain said with more conviction than Nesta had heard in her sister’s voice for a good long while. Before Nesta could respond there was a knock on the door and her youngest sister and High Lady of the Night Court stormed into her room. 

Feyre flopped onto Nesta’s bed and sighed “Rhys is driving me up the wall today” she said exasperatedly like it was the most normal thing in the world for her to be lying on her sister’s bed. Nesta just stared at her incredulously.

“This might be your house Feyre, but this is my room and I would prefer if you waited for me to let you in” Nesta retorted with ire. Elain frowned at her, “Nesta, play nice or we’ll start asking you why the perfume you bought yesterday is half gone already and why there is a distinct essence of male lingering in this room.”

Feyre laughed and gave Elain a satisfied grin as Nesta’s face went beet red. Nesta huffed but turned her attention back to Elain. “Very well” she said. “Elain, continue your story. That is if you’re all right with Feyre staying. If not I will gladly throw her out the window and see how her flying lessons are coming along.”

“No” Elain said, some of her shyness returning “Feyre has known him longer than me. I could use her thoughts”.

“Him? Him who?” Feyre asked, her attention now solely on Elain. Nesta’s youngest sister had always been a busy body, but if Elain wanted her here then Nesta would have to accept it.

Elain lowered her head and said in a whisper, the complete opposite of how she had relayed this information to Nesta, “I kissed Azriel last night”.

“Wow” Feyre said incredulously. “How was it? I’ve always wondered what he does with those shadows of his when he’s…intimate”.

Elain finally looked up and giggled, relieved at the lightness of Feyre’s reaction. Nesta didn’t blame Elain for her apprehension. Feyre’s loyalties were unclear, to say the least. With her ridiculous mating bond with Rhysand and her loyalty to the Night Court, Nesta was now always unsure what information she could tell Feyre without it finding its way to that mate of hers. She had to hope that Feyre’s busy body nature would take a back seat to her loyalty to Elain in this instance.

“What should I do now?” Elain asked. “I don’t know if I want something more from him; it’s just that in that moment I needed to kiss him. He’s been so kind to me always, and since father’s death he’s been a great comfort. I never thought that I would pursue something romantic with Azriel, but he makes me feel so safe and warm. And what about Lucien? I don’t fully understand the whole mate thing, but from the look on Lucien’s face every time he sees me it seems he already thinks that we’re married. I just can’t take that right now. I was engaged. I don’t want that again. I just want to be free”.

Nesta broke her sister’s babbling with a tight embrace. “It’s going to be ok” Nesta whispered into Elain’s neck. “Don’t worry about Lucien; what do you want Elain?” Nesta asked with the tenderness she reserved just for her.

“I want” Elain said and then stopped, considering her words carefully. “I want to kiss Azriel again.”

“Well” said Feyre, “then that’s what you should do. Lucien is a good male. He won’t hold you back from what you want. He may not want to see it though. I’ll think of an assignment to send him back out of the city for a time. As long as Azriel is otherwise occupied” she continued with a wink to Elain. “We’ll need more help in the other courts anyway. Lucien will understand. The mating bond is not the be-all-end-all and you should choose who you wish to spend your time with, Elain”.

“Feyre’s right”, Nesta said almost entirely without the bite that usually came with agreeing with her youngest sister. “You need to do what’s best for you, Elain. If Azriel is who makes you happy, then I’m so glad that you’ve found him”.

“Right” Feyre said turning to face Nesta, “Now that’s settled, would you like to explain the Illyrian leathers in the corner that you forgot to shove in the closet or that welt on the side of your neck?”

Nesta raised a hand to her neck immediately. Shit. “Out” she bellowed at her sisters and they scurried away giggling, arm in arm. She would kill Cassian for that mark. She had warned him a million times not to leave a mark as his tongue and teeth expertly explored her neck. She would kill him. But at the thought of his teeth at her neck and the relief she felt at Elain finally starting to live again, Nesta couldn’t help but smile.

As she heard her sisters starting to make breakfast downstairs, her smile grew. This life was not what Nesta had wanted for herself or for her sisters, but back at their old cottage or even at the manor when they were young, the three Archeron sisters had never talked with such ease. Maybe, Nesta had to admit; this life in Prythian wasn’t all that bad. Nesta threw on her dressing gown and went downstairs to help with breakfast.


End file.
